Looking for Gyutou.

Hello everybody! I've been trying to read up in this forum as much as possible but I'm still a newbie when it comes to this. I recently got into upgrading my knives, as well as trying to get some knife skills (bought An edge in the kitchen), and just generally get better acquainted with using them since I'm looking to get into the culinary field. I've looked around and the one knife that I've had a chance to hold is the Misono UX10, it's impressive when I see video of it just cutting through things as if they're made of butter. Now my question is are there any other knives that can make this knife seem like just hype in terms of being able to make quick work of cutting veggies/meats(with no bone). I'm leaning towards stainless for less maintenance but if there are good carbon steel choice I wouldn't mind looking. I want a knife that'll make meal prep a breeze. Thanks so much! I can get a 27 cm UX10 for under 200 from japan right now. I have a Wustof that I adore but I want to venture out and try something new.

The 240 I handled was exquisite. You could probably still do better for the money... define "under 200" in exact number and im sure people will recommend you some other options worth checking out as you seem pretty open minded.

It's good that you were able to get a chance to actually hold one of the Misono UX10's. All too often, many of the knives we wonder about exist for us initially only as will-of-the-wisps on the ethereal Internet.

It's also entertaining to look at someone else's video performance.

And I'm also happy to see that you have a copy of Chad Ward's book!

.....however......

Whether "there any other knives that can make this knife seem like just hype in terms of being able to make quick work of cutting veggies/meats(with no bone)" is probably not going to be answerable.

You are looking at buying one from Japan (I suppose it's the one on eBay at $197 + change). Fair enough. However, you should consider that what will be shipped to you may or may not have a good edge. BDL reported that he found "a fair bit of variance from knife to knife". That's consistent with general practice for the edges of high-end knives sold to chefs in Japan. Often, there's not much work put into the edge at the factory or shop, since it is expected that each chef will want to put onto the knife the type and profile edge personally desired by that chef. That's not inconsistent with expectations of the chef - culinary professionals in Japan begin their training with sharpening knives and do much more of it during their appreticeships and journeyman work than their western colleagues.

A short answer to your question would probably be - It depends on how you sharpen the knife and how punctual you are about keeping it sharp.

And did I mention that I'm happy to see you have a copy of Chad Ward's book?

The 240 I handled was exquisite. You could probably still do better for the money... define "under 200" in exact number and im sure people will recommend you some other options worth checking out as you seem pretty open minded.

It's good that you were able to get a chance to actually hold one of the Misono UX10's. All too often, many of the knives we wonder about exist for us initially only as will-of-the-wisps on the ethereal Internet.

It's also entertaining to look at someone else's video performance.

And I'm also happy to see that you have a copy of Chad Ward's book!

.....however......

Whether "there any other knives that can make this knife seem like just hype in terms of being able to make quick work of cutting veggies/meats(with no bone)" is probably not going to be answerable.

You are looking at buying one from Japan (I suppose it's the one on eBay at $197 + change). Fair enough. However, you should consider that what will be shipped to you may or may not have a good edge. BDL reported that he found "a fair bit of variance from knife to knife". That's consistent with general practice for the edges of high-end knives sold to chefs in Japan. Often, there's not much work put into the edge at the factory or shop, since it is expected that each chef will want to put onto the knife the type and profile edge personally desired by that chef. That's not inconsistent with expectations of the chef - culinary professionals in Japan begin their training with sharpening knives and do much more of it during their appreticeships and journeyman work than their western colleagues.

A short answer to your question would probably be - It depends on how you sharpen the knife and how punctual you are about keeping it sharp.

And did I mention that I'm happy to see you have a copy of Chad Ward's book?

Galley Swiller

Click to expand...

Thanks for linking me to those threads Galley Swiller! I've been reading up on this forum for a week or so and joined this past week, I've seen some of BDL's posts and they're really helpful. I've been turned off by the "difficulty" of sharpening harder metals so I think I'll be sticking to something that has a carbon edge since they're easier to maintain sharp, at least that's the impression I got. The Hiromoto AS is looking like a knife I would want to try out, I like the look of the patina it gets. So, for the metal I don't mind Carbon steel at all but something that doesn't require too much maintenance but if I have to up keep a good amount of maintenance I'd rather something that can sharpen easily and can hold an edge for a decent amount of time.

I actually bought an Edge Pro (Which just came in the mail) so I'll be doing all of my sharpening on that until I'm confident enough to free hand sharpen my knives, I also bought an end grain Boos board that should be here in a couple of weeks. I won't be sharpening knives too much in the beginning since I'm just cooking at home but I will be sharpening knives more frequently when I make the transfer to the culinary field.

I'm excited about the book actually, I learned a bit so far reading halfway through it and it's amazingly informational. I'm on my way to not being such a newbie.

If you don't mind a 240 there is the Geshin Kagero, made of the supersteel SRS-15, takes a super keen edge and holds it like few others. And close to the $200 mark. Also consider the Geshin Uraku. Both stainless.

AEB-L is high grade stuff and a very easy stainless to sharpen, there are many options here, just search JKI or CKTG, use the "steel" filter.

Blue #2 is a great carbon to work with, same for 52100, lots of options for the Blue #2. These have better edge retention than virgin carbon, especially in the lower price ranges. They are also very pure steels and are finer grained than the cheaper carbons.

A little higher up the line you have things like the Konosuke HD2, semi-stainles and probably the most popular laser out there, which is why they're so often out of stock. A bit over $300 for your 270.

If you do want to try out the Hiromoto AS, I would suggest that you don't dawdle. The shop's proprietor has now retired (he was 78 years old, with no partner and no apprentice), production has ceased and stock of the Hiromoto AS gyuto's at JapaneseChefsKnife.com has mostly sold out, except for some 180, 200 and 240 mm gyuto's. Chef Knives To Go apparently still has some Hiromoto AS gyuto's in stock, in the 240 mm and 270 mm sizes.

I'm happy to hear you just received an Edge Pro. I have one (the CKTG "Essentials" kit with Shapton Glass Stones) and you will find the learning curve to be very fast. I do strongly suggest getting the platform magnet, the quick-change spring.and an Angle Cube, all inexpensive after-market accessories. You will find quite a bit of information about the Edge Pro on ChefTalk and with other web sites as well.